I'll recode to radiator compliance after 19th of may. i have now coded all stuff with the other set of procedures. now that i have that working, i will implement it in my frontend. then i want to place the software and hardware into my car to see how it works there. after i achieved that, i will work towards the next step.

one other question: in your testapp you read the buffer 4 times per second. is this really necessary for correct operation? or is some buffer overflowing otherwise?

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No sorry, it is still a hobby and I need to find the time for it. AF is almost finished, but because both traffic and news need AF to work it has to be in this order => AF, then news/traffic. I hope to get it finished before the end of this month.
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AF good point... I forget something I want to look for...

"AF is not possible" (with the HQCT and it's current firmware) - my statement !
sorry
The philips software (working over i2c with Tuner and TEF) does AF checks like this:

Code:

S 31 a 8A A 74 A 00 N P -- 74 is the level of the current programm (89,3) from the TEF
S C2 a 87 a E2 a 3C N P -- AF Bit enabled (the 8 from 87!) - 7E2 is the freq to check 90,2 (level, USN and WAM is written into TEF's latches)
S C2 a 87 a D0 a 3C a 88 a 01 N P -- switching back to 89,3
S C2 a 87 a D0 a 3C a 88 a 00 N P -- switching back to 89,3 (2 lines for faster tuning - switching from wide band to dynamic band)
S C3 a 5A N P
S 31 a AA A 24 A 53 N P - reading the TEF now contains the level from the AF check (!) = 24
S C3 a 5A N P
S 31 a 8A A 74 A 00 N P - reading the TEF contains our old programm again (89,3) with level 74

commands 2,3 and 4 are time critical ! they have to follow each other in 5ms - if they took too long the AF check is audible.
What if your windows... is busy between your 2/3 HID commands ?
How to identify the incoming HID message with the level values from the AF check ? May be the PIC buffered (level,...) values ?

I rather think this "i2c-message-salvo" has to be done complete alone by the PIC...
and to add: it is 100% perfect design by Datalex that the PIC is stupid and only an USB-I2C adapter (I see only one expection: AF check)

PutPut, I downloaded your CTuner but how do I make my HQCT use yours instead of the one that comes with the HQCT in RR. Also, I know this question doesn't belong here, but you seem to be qualified enough to answer it. I am having reception issues and no channel comes in over 50 percent in your program. What can I do to increase reception quality? I have it plugged into my car oem antenna but the reception is no where near the quality of my OEM radio.

ok, i have my first version of the radio integration into james, my carpc software. for more info about james see http://carpc.mischka.eu and then the software section.

ok... a quick explanation.

on top on the status bar you can see the band/frequency. If the received signal is not stereo it will go red.

I guess the tune up and down i dont have to explain AM FM option switches the band accordingly.
the memory option adds current station to the memory and puts it in the list. if there is a station-name from rds it will also save this. there is room for 16 presets.
with next and previous you can select a saved station in the list.
the sensitivity option sets the seek sensitivity.

when turning the volume down very far it will mute automatically. if you leave the radio menu while muted it will switch off (de-init) the radio. the frequency indicator will then display "radio off".

when the radio plays and user opens an mp3, radio is stopped, and vice versa.

so the basic radio functions that you find on a headunit are now working. some things to do:
- volume control of radio is only in radio menu
- on incoming call a playing mp3 is muted, this needs doing for radio also.
- rds display in main menu
- enable radio memory for AM frequencies.

should be fixed by the end of the weekend. i will then post a new zip file.

PutPut, I downloaded your CTuner but how do I make my HQCT use yours instead of the one that comes with the HQCT in RR. Also, I know this question doesn't belong here, but you seem to be qualified enough to answer it. I am having reception issues and no channel comes in over 50 percent in your program. What can I do to increase reception quality? I have it plugged into my car oem antenna but the reception is no where near the quality of my OEM radio.

Hi Diosagain,

Here you can find a readme.txt file that describes features and installation of CPCTuner. The following lines are cut out of the text file and describe rr installation:
- RR Install:
+ Unzip the contents of the file CPCTuner.ZIP in C:\CPCSuite\... (!IMPORTANT!: this betaversion uses fixed paths for now, make sure its there or it simply doesn't work!)
+ Rename the file 'RR Path'\HQCT\RRHQCT.exe to 'RR Path'\HQCT\RRHQCT.ORI, where 'RR Path' is the full path in which RR is installed, exp C:\Program Files\RoadRunner.
+ Copy the file C:\CPCSuite\RRHQCT.EXE to 'RR Path'\HQCT\RRHQCT.exe
+ Thats all, now start RR and click on radio, CPCTuner.exe should start minimized and the tuner will start after a few seconds.
+ Of course CPCTuner can still be used as a standalone program.+ To uninstall: delete the file 'RR Path'\HQCT\RRHQCT.exe and rename the file 'RR Path'\HQCT\RRHQCT.Original to its original name.

About the reception problem, I have the module in my car now for several months (used it on my desk first to develop CPCTuner) and reception is 99% like with the original HU using the build in car antenna. And I used a 75ohm antenna extension cable, this should be 50ohm but because of the fact that reception is so good I 'haven't found the time' to replace the extension cable. Also you probably checked the posts on the hardware thread about power supplies (this is more important with bad RDS but) a clean power supply is always important. My HQCT module is directly connected to the 12V power of my car and I use a 7805 for 5V, together with the 5V I also installed the filter that Diogenes proposed in one of his posts (974) in the HQCT hardware thread. But I used a 10ohm resistor in the 12V line instead of the proposed 33ohm by Diogenes. Also check antenna connections and plugs, each connection is a possible source of problems.